VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis denounced the “global scandal” of hunger yesterday, calling for
an international “ wave of prayer” to bring attention to the plight of the needy and homeless.

Since his election in March, Francis, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina,
has frequently beseeched global leaders to fight poverty and growing inequality.

“We are in front of a global scandal of around 1 billion — 1 billion people who still suffer
from hunger today,” he said in a video message launching a campaign by Caritas Internationalis, a
confederation of 164 Catholic charities.

“We cannot look the other way and pretend this does not exist,” he said. “The food available in
the world is enough to feed everyone.”

The campaign, called “One Human Family, Food for All,” kicks off today starting around noon EST,
when anti-hunger activists around the world will pray at the same time for a half-hour.

The pope also appeared to call for lifestyle changes, urging people “to become more conscious in
our food choices, which often lead to waste and a poor use of the resources available to us.”